PROVO -- Relief pitching was the story for BYU as the Cougars came from behind for the second consecutive day to take a 12-7 victory over UNLV, Saturday at Larry H. Miller Field.

On Friday night it was BYU's Brandon Christiansen shutting down the Rebels' bats. Saturday Mitch Woolf pitched even better, going five innings while only giving up one hit and striking out six batters.

The win moves the Cougars within a game of first-place UNLV. BYU (35-16-1, 19-8, Mountain West Conference) won the series as it did earlier this year in Las Vegas.

After two quick outs were recorded, the Rebels scored two for the early lead. UNLV, now 26-26 (20-7, MWC), scored two more in the top of the second frame to push the lead to 4-0.

BYU responded with a big second inning to grab a 5-4 lead. The Cougars got their runs on RBI doubles by Ben Saylor and Ryan Chambers and a two-run home run by Sean McNaughton.

UNLV fought back in the top of the fourth, scoring three runs and chasing starter James Platt from the game. The Rebels scored two on a big two-out, two-run single by Mike Cruz to UNLV a 7-5 lead. It was the last advantage the Rebels would have as Woolf entered the game in the fifth.

Woolf started strong, striking out the first three batters and five of the first six he faced. Woolf said his first inning helped turn the game around.

"It changed the momentum of the game and gave me the confidence to go out and do it every inning," he said.

Woolf credits his teammates for the run support and strong defense behind him. He also credited Brandon Taylor for showing leadership that helped calm him down when he needed it. BYU head coach Vance Law praised Woolf's effort.

"At times, he has been unhittable," Law said. "He went out there and threw strikes and has that awesome curveball."

The runs came pouring in as the Cougars' bats produced seven unanswered runs that buried the Rebels. In the fifth, BYU got a walk and four singles to score four runs and take the lead for good. Saylor, Kory Knell and Casey Cloward all picked up RBI hits in the inning.

The Cougars added one insurance run in the sixth and two in the seventh to finish with the 12-7 victory. UNLV ended Jeff Hiestand's 29-game hitting streak. Granted, the Rebels had to walk Hiestand three times and hit him with a pitch once to hold the slugger hitless. Hiestand ended his hitting streak going 0-for-1 and scoring three runs.

BYU will finish regular season play with a three game series at San Diego State starting Wednesday of next week. The MWC tournament will be held the following week in Salt Lake City.

UNLV at Brigham Young Univ.
May 14, 2005 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
UNLV 7 (26-26,20-7 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
SIBLEY cf................  2  0  0  0   0  0  3  0   0
 KOWALSKI cf.............  1  0  0  0   1  0  2  0   0
CRUZ 3b..................  4  0  1  2   0  0  0  1   0
PARRAZ ss................  3  1  0  0   2  1  0  2   2
BONNELL 1b...............  4  1  1  1   0  1  7  0   0
BIRD rf..................  3  1  1  1   0  1  3  1   2
LANG 2b..................  4  0  0  0   0  1  1  3   0
TELLAM c.................  3  2  2  1   1  1  5  0   0
BERANEK dh...............  4  2  3  2   0  0  0  0   0
FRY lf...................  4  0  1  0   0  1  3  0   1
RODRIGUEZ p..............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 NAVARRO Jr. p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 BROCK p.................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 32  7  9  7   4  6 24  8   5
Brigham Young Univ. 12 (35-16-1,19-8 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
McNAUGHTON, Sean 2b......  4  2  2  3   1  0  3  4   0
VILLEZCAS, Marcos ss.....  3  0  0  1   1  1  2  3   0
NAKAYAMA, Apana dh.......  5  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   4
HIESTAND, Jeff rf/1b.....  1  3  0  0   3  0  2  0   0
 MOLINA, Adrian cf.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
TAYLOR, Brandon 3b.......  4  2  1  0   0  1  4  3   1
SAYLOR, Ben 1b...........  3  2  3  3   1  0  9  0   0
KNELL, Kory lf...........  4  1  3  1   0  1  1  0   0
CHAMBERS, Ryan cf/rf.....  5  1  1  2   0  0  1  0   3
CLOWARD, Casey c.........  4  1  1  1   1  1  5  4   1
PLATT, James p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
 WOOLF, Mitch p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 33 12 11 11   7  5 27 16   9
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
UNLV................ 220 300 000 -  7  9  3
Brigham Young Univ.. 050 041 20X - 12 11  0
-------------------------------------------
E - PARRAZ; FRY; NAVARRO Jr.. DP - LV 1; BYU Cougars 1. LOB - LV 5; BYU
Cougars 9. 2B - BONNELL; TELLAM; FRY; McNAUGHTON; SAYLOR; CHAMBERS. HR -
BERANEK(7); McNAUGHTON(11). HBP - SIBLEY; CRUZ; BIRD; HIESTAND; TAYLOR;
KNELL. SF - VILLEZCAS; SAYLOR. SB - HIESTAND. CS - SIBLEY; BIRD.
UNLV                   IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
RODRIGUEZ...........  4.1  8  9  8  5  3 22 28 108
NAVARRO Jr..........  2.1  2  3  1  2  1  7 12  44
BROCK...............  1.1  1  0  0  0  1  4  5  16
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
PLATT, James........  4.0  8  7  7  1  0 18 21  83
WOOLF, Mitch........  5.0  1  0  0  3  6 14 18  78
Win - WOOLF (2-3).  Loss - RODRIGUEZ (4-5).  Save - None.
WP - BROCK. HBP - by RODRIGUEZ (TAYLOR); by PLATT (BIRD); by PLATT (SIBLEY); by
NAVARRO Jr. (HIESTAND); by WOOLF (CRUZ); by BROCK (KNELL). PB - TELLAM.
Pitches/strikes: RODRIGUEZ 108/60; NAVARRO Jr. 44/28; BROCK 16/9; PLATT 83/47;
WOOLF 78/43.
Umpires - HP: Jeff Van Raaphorst  1B: Joe Burleson  3B: Blake Jensen
Start: 1:06 pm   Time: 2:54   Attendance: 1872
UNLV at Brigham Young Univ. - Play-by-Play
May 14, 2005 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
UNLV................ 220 300 000 -  7  9  3
Brigham Young Univ.. 050 041 20X - 12 11  0
-------------------------------------------
UNLV starters: 22/cf SIBLEY; 1/3b CRUZ; 10/ss PARRAZ; 11/1b BONNELL; 34/rf BIRD;
5/2b LANG; 36/c TELLAM; 18/dh BERANEK; 2/lf FRY; 27/p RODRIGUEZ;
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 15/2b McNAUGHTON; 10/ss VILLEZCAS; 24/dh NAKAYAMA;
16/rf HIESTAND; 3/3b TAYLOR; 25/1b SAYLOR; 12/lf KNELL; 22/cf CHAMBERS; 9/c CLOWARD;
7/p PLATT;
UNLV 1st - SIBLEY out at first p to 2b to 1b (2-1). CRUZ flied out to lf
(3-2). PARRAZ walked (3-2). BONNELL doubled to left field, RBI (1-1); PARRAZ scored.
BIRD singled to center field, RBI (0-0); BONNELL scored. BIRD out at second c to 2b,
caught stealing. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - McNAUGHTON grounded out to 3b (2-2). VILLEZCAS
grounded out to 2b (2-2). NAKAYAMA grounded out to 2b (1-1). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
UNLV 2nd - LANG grounded out to p (1-2). TELLAM doubled down the lf line
(1-0). BERANEK homered to center field, 2 RBI (2-1); TELLAM scored. FRY doubled to
center field (1-2). SIBLEY reached on a fielder's choice (1-2); FRY out at third ss
to 3b. SIBLEY out at second c to 2b, caught stealing. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - HIESTAND walked (3-1). TAYLOR hit by pitch (0-1);
HIESTAND advanced to second. SAYLOR doubled to center field, RBI (3-1); TAYLOR
advanced to third; HIESTAND scored. KNELL struck out swinging (1-2). CHAMBERS
doubled down the lf line, 2 RBI (2-1); SAYLOR scored; TAYLOR scored. CLOWARD struck
out swinging (2-2). McNAUGHTON homered to center field, 2 RBI (1-2); CHAMBERS
scored. VILLEZCAS walked (3-1). NAKAYAMA struck out looking (1-2). 5 runs, 3
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UNLV 3rd - CRUZ grounded out to 3b (3-1). PARRAZ grounded out to ss (0-0).
BONNELL lined out to 3b (3-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - HIESTAND flied out to lf (2-1). TAYLOR flied out to
rf (0-0). SAYLOR walked (3-0). KNELL singled, bunt (0-0); SAYLOR advanced to second.
CHAMBERS reached on a fielder's choice (2-2); KNELL out at second ss to 2b. 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
UNLV 4th - BIRD hit by pitch (2-2). LANG grounded out to ss (1-1); BIRD
advanced to second. TELLAM singled to left field, RBI (0-0); BIRD scored. BERANEK
singled to center field (2-2); TELLAM advanced to second. FRY grounded out to 2b
(0-0); BERANEK advanced to second; TELLAM advanced to third. SIBLEY hit by pitch
(1-0). CRUZ singled to left field, 2 RBI (0-2); SIBLEY advanced to second; BERANEK
scored; TELLAM scored. PARRAZ reached on a fielder's choice (2-1); CRUZ advanced to
second; SIBLEY out at third 3b unassisted. 3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - CLOWARD grounded out to p (0-0). McNAUGHTON walked
(3-2). VILLEZCAS flied out to cf (1-2). NAKAYAMA flied out to cf (1-0). 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UNLV 5th - WOOLF to p for PLATT. BONNELL struck out swinging, out at first c
to 1b (0-2). BIRD struck out swinging (3-2). LANG struck out looking (2-2). 0
runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - HIESTAND walked (3-1). TAYLOR singled to left field
(0-0); HIESTAND advanced to second. SAYLOR singled to right center, RBI (1-2);
TAYLOR advanced to third; HIESTAND scored. KNELL singled up the middle, RBI (1-2);
SAYLOR advanced to second; TAYLOR scored. CHAMBERS flied out to rf (1-0); SAYLOR
advanced to third. CLOWARD singled to right field, RBI (2-2); KNELL advanced to
second; SAYLOR scored. McNAUGHTON reached on a fielder's choice, RBI (1-0); CLOWARD
advanced to second on a fielding error by ss, advanced to third; KNELL scored,
unearned. NAVARRO Jr. to p for RODRIGUEZ. VILLEZCAS struck out looking (0-2).
NAKAYAMA grounded out to 2b (0-1). 4 runs, 4 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
UNLV 6th - TELLAM struck out looking (3-2). BERANEK flied out to cf (0-0).
FRY struck out looking (1-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - HIESTAND hit by pitch (0-1). TAYLOR flied out to lf
(1-2). HIESTAND advanced to second on a passed ball. SAYLOR flied out to cf, SF, RBI
(2-2); HIESTAND scored, unearned. KOWALSKI to cf for SIBLEY. KNELL singled through
the left side (0-1). CHAMBERS flied out to cf (0-1). 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
UNLV 7th - KOWALSKI grounded out to 2b (1-1). CRUZ hit by pitch (2-1). PARRAZ
walked (3-2); CRUZ advanced to second. BONNELL flied out to rf (0-0). BIRD lined out
to ss (0-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - CLOWARD walked (3-2). McNAUGHTON doubled down the
lf line (1-1); CLOWARD advanced to third, scored on a fielding error by lf.
McNAUGHTON advanced to third on a throwing error by p. VILLEZCAS flied out to lf,
SF, RBI (0-1); McNAUGHTON scored, unearned. NAKAYAMA grounded out to ss (3-1).
HIESTAND walked (3-1). BROCK to p for NAVARRO Jr.. HIESTAND stole second. HIESTAND
advanced to third on a wild pitch. TAYLOR struck out swinging (3-2). 2 runs, 1
hit, 2 errors, 1 LOB.
UNLV 8th - LANG grounded out to 3b (2-2). TELLAM walked (3-1). BERANEK
singled to left field (3-2); TELLAM advanced to second. TELLAM out at second c to
ss, picked off. FRY fouled out to 3b (2-1). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - SAYLOR singled to right center (0-1). KNELL hit by
pitch (1-1); SAYLOR advanced to second. CHAMBERS flied into double play rf to 1b
(0-0); KNELL out on the play. CLOWARD flied out to cf (2-1). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
UNLV 9th - MOLINA to cf for HIESTAND. HIESTAND to 1b for MOLINA. MOLINA to cf
for SAYLOR. CHAMBERS to rf. KOWALSKI walked (3-1). CRUZ grounded into double play 3b
to 2b to 1b (2-1); KOWALSKI out on the play. PARRAZ struck out looking (1-2). 0
runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

After being chased most of the season as the baseball frontrunner, it's BYU's turn to chase the league-leader as UNLV comes to town for a three-game series which begins on Thursday.

The Cougars are 33-15-1 and 17-7 in the Mountain West Conference after dropping two of three last weekend in Provo to New Mexico. UNLV is 25-24 overall, above .500 for the first time in weeks, and 19-5 in the MWC for a two-game lead over BYU.

A sweep over UNLV would put the Cougars back in first place. BYU took two of three at UNLV last month. At stake is the regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the MWC Tournament on May 26 which gets a bye from the May 25 games vs. lowest seed to advance from the opening day. The No. 2 seed also gets a bye on the opening day, but will play a higher-seeded team to advance.

UNLV was the preseason pick to finish third in the MWC, but has won the past two consecutive league tournaments.

Thursday and Friday's games vs. UNLV will begin at 7 p.m., with Dave Horlacher (5-2, 3.91) and Lance Beus (1-1, 5.40) getting the starts, respectively, on the mound for BYU. Friday's game will be televised live by KBYU-TV (Channel 11) locally and delayed on Saturday at 11 a.m., nationally by BYUTV with Jay Monsen and Gary Sheide calling the action. Saturday's starter at noon is freshman Blake Torgerson (6-2, 6.28).

Among the Cougar leaders is first baseman Jeff Hiestand who has the team's season-best 27-game current hitting streak, shy of the school record 32 by Cory Snyder.

The games versus UNLV are the final home games of BYU's regular season.

All of the games will be broadcast live over KOVO Radio 960 AM.

A multi-page release can be found by downloading the PDF file at the top of this story, which gives a detailed analysis of the Cougars.